 |
|
Title: The Koran (Penguin Classics)
ISBN: 0140449205
Author:
Anonymous
Publicate Date: 2004-09-28
Publish: 2004-09-28
List Price: $12.00
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Paperback
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $6.71
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.91
Amazon Merchant Price: $9.60
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: Thank the Lord for His Light
The Quran is what I grew reading and memorizing. It is where I got my inspiration; no wonder I choose to be an "infidel" on my own. Read with me some verses of the Quran and get inspired on what it has to say on Women on the 4th chapter (sura) verse 34:
As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them.
Did you read it? It says plainly to scourge the wife under some circumstances. Beat her up! And yet there are some dumb American women who would tell me that they found the Quran more inspiring than the Bible. That is absolutely DUMB!
Here is another verse in the Quran in the 9th chapter about how Muslims will subjugate Non-Muslims under their rule and "HUMILIATE" them. Get it! It is verse 29.
29 Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.
This is a plain command to the Muslim to FIGHT non Muslims until the Non Muslim is twisted in his arm and has no choice but Islam or Isalm. It says in Arabic "wa hum sagheroon" i.e. with humiliation. Humiliate the Non Muslim while paying tax tribute till he succumbs to Islam.
And I still hear dumb people getting carried away by what is Un-American, just the very fact that it is Un-American to them and the grass to them is greener on the other side of the fence! since we live in the Bible Belt and people drool over what is exotic! That is dumb!
|
2: One of the WORST translation of the Qur'an out there!
Do NOT buy this book, it is riddled with remarkably blatant changes to the Qur'anic text. One of the lighter changes is mutating the verse "...Oppression is worse than killing...", which is a verse in the Qur'an that signifies the need for man to be free physically and spiritually (man was born free by the will of G-d [Or "Allah"] and therefore it was his right to speak, live, think and express as he saw fit.) That verse is changed to "...Idolatry is worse than carnage."
This translation of the Qur'an is a fine example of demonazation of the religion.
If you truly wish to read the Qur'an I HIGHLY recommend "The Holy Qur'an", translated by: Yusef Ali. You can buy it on amazon in both paperback and hardback. You can also get it free from a mosque or freequran(dot)com.
There are wonderful sites that you can visit that can help you on a journey to understanding. The point is to build bridges between the interfaith community and middle-east/west.
understandingislam(dot)com
Islamicity(dot)com
islamonline(dot)net
May peace be upon all of you! :)
|
3: Is This a First-Rate Translation?
The Penguin Classic translation of the Koran by Daewood differs considerably from other versions. In general, I would have to say that Daewood's version is (for American audiences, at least) somewhat harsher than most translations. Most notably, Daewood translates Sura 6 ("The Women") as recommending that a husband beat an "uppity" wife. Elsewhere, Mohammed seems to recommend extermination of Islam's enemies, including Jews. To be sure, there are other passages which ameliorate such injunctions, but for a non-Muslim, non-Arabic speaker, the issue is not so much whether Mohammed is right or wrong, but whether the Arabic original actually says what Daewood puts into English.
When I first looked into this book, I thought that Daewood was an English name, but apparently it is transliterated Arabic and Daewood is a Muslim. Hence, to the extent that the translation says thing which would make a modern non-Muslim cringe, one suspects that the translation is accurate. But of course "statement against interest" is a very weak reed upon which to base a conclusion about the accuracy of the translation. At least it is worth noting that Daewood's translation seems both more readable and more idiomatic than other versions of the Koran which I have browsed.
|
4: Out of order
The order of the chapters makes no sense...Sura 1 is burried in the middle...everything is upside-down and backwards. I wish I had bought a different version.
|
5: Dawood Koran from Penguin Classics
OK, I have an Arabic speaking friend who criticizes all English translations of the Koran. Because Dawood wasn't available online, as are Pickthal, Shakir, and others, I bought a copy, and as far as translations go, it's probably as good as you're going to get in English. Yusuf Ali is *soft* in his rendering, and you're going to need supporting books like the Tafsirs, Hadiths, and Sira to get as much understanding of Mohammad as possible. Make no mistake, Islam is Mohammad and his belief system. Know the man behind the cloak of this religion, and you'll have a far better understanding of the images coming out of Islam on a daily basis. A Koran might be a gateway, but it will not bring you to understand Mohammad's character; that will be more clearly revealed by his Sunnah.
Good luck, and fasten your seatbelts; it's a very bumpy ride.
|
|
|
|
|
